Girl allegedly kidnapped from Alaska two years ago discovered in Los Angeles foothills

Glendale police found a 7-year-old girl who had been kidnapped in Alaska two years ago when they pulled over a car in La Crescenta on Thursday for a suspected seatbelt violation, officials said.

Police reportedly observed three adults and two girls, a 3-year-old and 7-year-old, in the vehicle which was traveling eastbound on Foothill Boulevard, near New York Avenue, at about 2:40 p.m., according to Glendale Police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot.

Two people in the car were allegedly not wearing seatbelts, Lightfoot said. During the investigation, officers found out that the 7-year-old child had been abducted by her biological mother from Anchorage, Alaska, in 2011 and brought to California.

Lightfoot said the mother fled with her daughter when she found out the state was going to take possession of her. She is also the biological mother of the 3-year-old, but that child has a different father, Lightfoot said.

The mother was one of the passengers in the vehicle.

The suspects, whose names were not immediately available, gave officers information that appeared to be suspicious and inconsistent, specifically when asked about the children’s identities, Lightfoot said.

“The (7-year-old) was listed as ‘abducted’ in the computer system when the officers ran the child’s name,” she said.

Officers learned that charges were filed in an abduction case in Alaska and that there was an active warrant for the child’s mother, she said.

Both children were placed into protective custody with the Department of Children’s Services. The Alaska Office of Children’s Services is working on travel arrangements in order to return both children back to Alaska, Lightfoot said.

Investigators in Alaska were aggressively searching for the girl for two years, she said.

Glendale police are continuing an investigation with the Anchorage Police Department and the Alaska Office of Children’s Services.